As the capital, Providence is the most populous city within Rhode Island, incorporating one of the most extensive school districts in the state. In order to obtain a comprehensive view of the district one should first examine the demographics of the city. To follow, an assessment of the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP), teacher qualifications and special services will provide an expansive look at the district's student and teacher performances. In addition, in order to fully grasp the Providence district's effectiveness, the attendance, including the drop-out and graduation rates, and disciplinary actions, as well as the funding and resources should be assessed. In order to both summarize and emphasize the presented information, an extensive analysis will ultimately be presented to efficiently inform those interested in improving the Providence district by becoming well informed.
Demographics
The city of Providence, located within Providence County, encloses a total of 20.5 square miles [1] . Providence is the most populous city in Rhode Island, and one of the most densely populated cities in the country with approximately 178,053 residents, including 41,634 children [2] . Its district serves over 30,000 students in 47 public schools [3] . Providence, with a median family income of $33,960 annually is not very well off compared to Rhode Island, whose median family income is nearly twice as high. Because of this low income, the children living in families below the federal poverty threshold in Providence at 14% is over twice as large as the state's (35.6%). In addition, within the district of Providence, 65.7% of its inhabitants are white, 8.8% are black, and 19.3% are Hispanic, showing more diversity than the remainder of the state [4] .
Student, Teaching and Families Assessment
NECAP (Accountability) According to the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) evaluation, Providence is below the state average in every grade category including reading, writing, math, and science. Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and eleventh graders are stronger in reading than they are in math, however. In 5th grade, writing skills are tested for the first time on the NECAP, then in 8th grade and then in 11th grade. For all three grade levels, the writing skills are vastly lower than the reading skills. Science levels are tested in 4th grade, 8th grade and 11th grade, and again, all three grades in the district show a percentage far below that of the state level. These sub-par grades remain consistently lower than that of the state's in every year in every subject [5] .
Teacher Qualifications In regards to teaching staff, the Providence district is more on par with that of the state’s teaching staff. While the state has 1% of teachers with Emergency Certification, Providence has 2%. Both the state and Providence employ 2% of its teachers without high qualifications. Finally, the state has an average teacher-student ratio of 1:11 and the Providence district has a ratio of 1:15 [6] .
Special Services In Providence, there are a much higher percentage of students who are eligible for subsidized lunches. The state has an average of 44% who are while Providence has an average of 81%. In Providence, 17% of its students receive ESL/Bilingual Services in comparison to the rest of the state at 6%. In addition, 17% of Providence students receive Special Education Services while 16% of the state receives Special Education services [7] .
Attendance It is apparent through state data that Providence's attendance is sub-par in comparison to that of the state's. The attendance rate within the district has a significant drop off of 8% attendance rate from elementary to high school. It falls short of the state target attendance rate of 90% by 5% in high school, while the state exceeds the target by 2%. The average attendance rate in Providence is 90%, meeting the state target, but falling short by 4% of the state's average. In addition, the chronic absenteeism at 34% is nearly twice as high as the state's average at 18%. The percentage of students who graduated from this district in 2011 was merely 66.1%, an astounding 11% lower than the state's 77.2% graduation rate. This perhaps can be attributed to the dropout rate of 23.6%, nearly twice as high as the state's 12.5%. Providence also has a very apparent disciplinary problem, starting within elementary school. The number of incidents within the city (1169) account for nearly 40% of the suspensions within Rhode Island, and account for a large portion of the state's suspensions throughout both middle and high school [8] .
Funding & Resources While this district spends over $1,200 more per pupil at $15,305, than East Greenwich ($14,086), despite their significantly lower median family income (nearly one third less at $32,058 compared to $90,221), they have little to show for it academically. Additionally, the property value of each student, determined as the comprehensive value of all real property in the district divided by the average daily enrollment of public school students within the district, is over a third less than East Greenwich's $1,002,895 at $378,009 [9] .
Conclusion From these statistics it may be concluded that the Providence district is lacking both economically and educationally in comparison to Rhode Island as a whole. When paralleled with the state, the city of Providence is clearly below all academic standards, despite their seemingly competent teachers and special services. When evaluated by the NECAP, Providence students rank below the state in every category (math, science, writing, and reading), in every grade level. This could be the result of a higher dropout rate of 23.6% within Providence, than of that of the state at 12.5%, an 11.5% differentiation. This most likely results in Providence's 90% attendance rate, 4% lower than that of the state's. Both of these factors could easily attribute to the relatively low standardized testing scores within the Providence district. Additionally, it is important to note that even though Providence spends more money per student than other districts in Rhode Island, the academic achievement of the Providence students is still below that of the students of other districts, on average, in Rhode Island. It is evident by these indicators that the district of Providence, incorporating its 47 public schools, has much room for improvement. The first step to achieving such improvements is to acknowledge these presentings in order to improve upon the effectiveness of the Providence district's student performances.
The Providence School District
Authors: Maria Charbonneau, Emma Meyer
Introduction
As the capital, Providence is the most populous city within Rhode Island, incorporating one of the most extensive school districts in the state. In order to obtain a comprehensive view of the district one should first examine the demographics of the city. To follow, an assessment of the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP), teacher qualifications and special services will provide an expansive look at the district's student and teacher performances. In addition, in order to fully grasp the Providence district's effectiveness, the attendance, including the drop-out and graduation rates, and disciplinary actions, as well as the funding and resources should be assessed. In order to both summarize and emphasize the presented information, an extensive analysis will ultimately be presented to efficiently inform those interested in improving the Providence district by becoming well informed.
Demographics
The city of Providence, located within Providence County, encloses a total of 20.5 square miles [1] . Providence is the most populous city in Rhode Island, and one of the most densely populated cities in the country with approximately 178,053 residents, including 41,634 children [2] . Its district serves over 30,000 students in 47 public schools [3] . Providence, with a median family income of $33,960 annually is not very well off compared to Rhode Island, whose median family income is nearly twice as high. Because of this low income, the children living in families below the federal poverty threshold in Providence at 14% is over twice as large as the state's (35.6%). In addition, within the district of Providence, 65.7% of its inhabitants are white, 8.8% are black, and 19.3% are Hispanic, showing more diversity than the remainder of the state [4] .
Student, Teaching and Families Assessment
NECAP (Accountability)
According to the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) evaluation, Providence is below the state average in every grade category including reading, writing, math, and science. Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and eleventh graders are stronger in reading than they are in math, however. In 5th grade, writing skills are tested for the first time on the NECAP, then in 8th grade and then in 11th grade. For all three grade levels, the writing skills are vastly lower than the reading skills. Science levels are tested in 4th grade, 8th grade and 11th grade, and again, all three grades in the district show a percentage far below that of the state level. These sub-par grades remain consistently lower than that of the state's in every year in every subject [5] .
Teacher Qualifications
In regards to teaching staff, the Providence district is more on par with that of the state’s teaching staff. While the state has 1% of teachers with Emergency Certification, Providence has 2%. Both the state and Providence employ 2% of its teachers without high qualifications. Finally, the state has an average teacher-student ratio of 1:11 and the Providence district has a ratio of 1:15 [6] .
Special Services
In Providence, there are a much higher percentage of students who are eligible for subsidized lunches. The state has an average of 44% who are while Providence has an average of 81%. In Providence, 17% of its students receive ESL/Bilingual Services in comparison to the rest of the state at 6%. In addition, 17% of Providence students receive Special Education Services while 16% of the state receives Special Education services [7] .
Safe & Supportive Schools, Funding & Resources Assessment
Attendance
It is apparent through state data that Providence's attendance is sub-par in comparison to that of the state's. The attendance rate within the district has a significant drop off of 8% attendance rate from elementary to high school. It falls short of the state target attendance rate of 90% by 5% in high school, while the state exceeds the target by 2%. The average attendance rate in Providence is 90%, meeting the state target, but falling short by 4% of the state's average. In addition, the chronic absenteeism at 34% is nearly twice as high as the state's average at 18%. The percentage of students who graduated from this district in 2011 was merely 66.1%, an astounding 11% lower than the state's 77.2% graduation rate. This perhaps can be attributed to the dropout rate of 23.6%, nearly twice as high as the state's 12.5%. Providence also has a very apparent disciplinary problem, starting within elementary school. The number of incidents within the city (1169) account for nearly 40% of the suspensions within Rhode Island, and account for a large portion of the state's suspensions throughout both middle and high school [8] .
Funding & Resources
While this district spends over $1,200 more per pupil at $15,305, than East Greenwich ($14,086), despite their significantly lower median family income (nearly one third less at $32,058 compared to $90,221), they have little to show for it academically. Additionally, the property value of each student, determined as the comprehensive value of all real property in the district divided by the average daily enrollment of public school students within the district, is over a third less than East Greenwich's $1,002,895 at $378,009 [9] .
Conclusion
From these statistics it may be concluded that the Providence district is lacking both economically and educationally in comparison to Rhode Island as a whole. When paralleled with the state, the city of Providence is clearly below all academic standards, despite their seemingly competent teachers and special services. When evaluated by the NECAP, Providence students rank below the state in every category (math, science, writing, and reading), in every grade level. This could be the result of a higher dropout rate of 23.6% within Providence, than of that of the state at 12.5%, an 11.5% differentiation. This most likely results in Providence's 90% attendance rate, 4% lower than that of the state's. Both of these factors could easily attribute to the relatively low standardized testing scores within the Providence district. Additionally, it is important to note that even though Providence spends more money per student than other districts in Rhode Island, the academic achievement of the Providence students is still below that of the students of other districts, on average, in Rhode Island. It is evident by these indicators that the district of Providence, incorporating its 47 public schools, has much room for improvement. The first step to achieving such improvements is to acknowledge these presentings in order to improve upon the effectiveness of the Providence district's student performances.